Plant & Pest Advisory > Commercial Ag Updates and Farm Food Safety

Plant & Pest Advisory > Vegetable Crops

Contact Information

The points of contact between Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service and the grower & business communities are the NJ County Agricultural Agents. The agents are a tremendous source of information for both new and experienced growers. Visit your local county extension office.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

According to OSHA's website, "Outdoor workers who are exposed to hot and humid
conditions are at risk of heat-related illness. The risk of heat-related
illness becomes greater as the weather gets hotter and more humid. For people working outdoors in hot weather, both air temperature and humidity affect how hot they feel. The "heat index" is a single value that takes both temperature and humidity into account. The higher the heat index, the hotter the weather feels, since
sweat does not readily evaporate and cool the skin. The heat index is a better measure than air temperature alone for estimating the risk to workers from environmental heat sources.

To compliment their Heat Stress Prevention Campaign, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration developed a smartphone app that calculates the heat index and displays a risk level for workers. The Heat Safety Tool, available for both iPhones and Android devices, along with other useful information about heat related illness awareness and prevention, is available at the OSHA website, www.osha.gov.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

[NOTE: Storm related crop and/or
equipment damage/losses due directly to the storm or from exposure to
the high temperatures and intense sun following the storm should be
reported to your local USDA Farm Service Agency office as soon as
possible.]

From The Ohio State University Extension Vegetable Crops VegNet newsletter Vol. 19(13), July 10, 2012. Online at http://vegnet.osu.edu

Sources: Accuweather.com, NOAA, Wikipedia
While you probably have another “D” word or adjective in mind to describe the
storm that hit OH on June 29th the correct meteorological term is
“derecho”. A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms.